Chapter 27

                “Do you think the damage to the 10^th and 11^th floors of the Center had anything to do with our undercover activities?” Dean was talking to calm his nerves while following Karl closely as they both descended the emergency stair case.  No one expected that this stairwell would get any use when the building was originally built.

                “Listen to me,” Karl said as he continued undeterred down the stairs, “when we get to the basement command center, we will fire up the isolated com system just like Benson directed and then verify that we have access to the Center’s video and data storage grid.  With the new filter systems installed down here, we will be able to view the entire Center security video library, as well as bring up any communications that have originated inside or outside the complex with no one suspecting a thing.”

                Karl reached the entry tunnel to the emergency command center first, with Dean close behind.  Half way down the corridor was a large steel door.  Next to the door was a short podium with a slanted top surface that glowed slightly.  Benson had told them both that when they reached the entry portal Dean was to place his right hand flat on the surface and the steel blast door would slide out of the way, revealing a second door that Benson had given them the key too.  Once inside they were to prepare the communications and video systems for operation.  Dean and Karl had no way of knowing that the orders from Benson were actually directives from Lee Melman.  Melman wanted all systems ready when the other Center members arrived.  They began preparations at once.

                When Melman learned that Directorate Manager Kenfer had been trapped in one of the Center’s lifts, he wasted no time in taking charge of Kenfer’s extraction and medical treatment.  He now waited outside of the nurse’s station on the 2^nd floor.  He had already been advised that Kenfer had sustained a broken left arm and a few bumps and bruises, nothing that would keep him from his duties once he was treated.  While waiting, Melman fielded status calls from the various repair teams that went immediately to work to repair vital Center systems.  He was proud that his disaster plan was being employed without a hitch.  Most of the damage had been to communications and the floor below.  Melman new Kenfer would want repair estimates and he was doing his best to obtain them as each department head reported in.  Both Kenfer and Melman knew this was about the probe.  They were getting too close to finding out who was behind its near loss and this was an attempt to stop or at least slow down their progress.

                Benson had taken Melman’s earlier suggestions to heart and had backed up all his research at every important juncture.  Even though he had lost his cubicle computers, the data was still available on his personal comp with copies distributed to both of his agents Dean and Karl.

                “Operator, Connect me with the basement command center.” Benson did not bother to use a secure line for this call.  He knew it was no secret that during an emergency the command center was to be manned until such time that stability returned to the Center’s systems.

                “Command center,” Dean said with uncertainty in his voice. “Please keep this circuit clear unless you have emergency business.”

                “Dean this is Benson, just calling to make sure you’re not having any issues you need help with.  You will be having company soon and I want everything ready.  Directorate Manager Kenfer, his personal assistant Lee Melman and I will be down within the hour.” Benson was trying not to place undue pressure on the pair.  He knew they were up to the job and would not disappoint him.

                “Everything is going smoothly.  Communications and video access has been established easily and Karl is back tracing all lines to ensure they are secure from prying eyes and ears.” Dean could detect a small amount of angst in Benson’s voice despite his attempt to disguise it.

                “Great, I’ll call when we’re all heading down.  By the way, is the conference facility furnished adequately and are there supplies present in the kitchen facility?” Benson had never set foot in the command center himself and had no clue if they would need to send down furniture and food stuffs for the meeting.  He might as well deal with it now as later.

                “We’ve got top of the line furnishings, conference table with chairs and plenty of food and drink.  There is even a fully equipped sleeping area with bath and showers.  Someone thought of everything.”

                Benson cut the connection and keyed in Melman’s person com code.  He recognized Melman’s voice answer. “My guys have everything under control down in the command center,” Benson said, “we’re ready when you are for our pow wow.  How’s Mr. Kenfer doing?”

                Melman hesitated before answering as he finished entering status notes he had been collecting from all the effected department heads into his hand comp. “The doctors have examined him and he is being treated for a broken left arm as we speak.  A few more minutes under the mending ray and he should be good as new, just the usual soreness for a few hours.”

                “We will have untraceable access to the Center’s com and video grid for our investigation.” Benson said. “I have almost completed the last phase of my analysis of the Probe data.  We will know soon where the orders came from and what they entailed.  The Center may have been attacked but thanks to our precautions, no data or personnel were lost.  I’m bringing my results to date with me along with my personal comp that’s still running the final program.” Benson was anxious to get to the meeting and begin comparing notes in hopes of ending this once and for all.

                “The doctor has just advised me that Director Kenfer will be coming out in a few moments.  Give us about fifteen minutes and we will be on our way down to command.” Melman planned to scoop up Kenfer, make a brief stop to personally talk to the director of the repair efforts and then make their way to what he hoped would be a productive and enlightening meeting.  The safety and security of the command bunker would be a welcome relief.

                Benson called the command center as promised reaching Karl this time. “The boss is OK and we should all be down in about twenty minutes give or take.  Run one more diagnostic on the security feeds before we arrive.  I’m sure that if what I’ve heard about Kenfer is true, he’ll hit the door running and will want all the information he can get.  Set up the group viewing screen in the conference room with a comp port so I can put my findings up for all to see.  Did you guys bring your personal comps as backup?  You should also have your copies of your analysis data with you.

                Karl could sense that things were about to get interesting and he tried to stay calm as he spoke. “Don’t worry, this is not the first presentation we’ve been part of.  It’s about time this thing came to a head and we have all the right tools down here to get to the bottom of this mystery.

                Benson couldn’t help but be apprehensive.  The future of Center operations depended on clearing up this mess…….

                  

 

               

 

   

Chapter 26

                Eldon Monroe sat quietly eating his lunch.  He was used to the fact that this off site laboratory, once bustling with eager technicians, no longer was a hub of activity.  Actually, he liked it this way.  During the last several months Eldon had been able to study anything he wanted and not be accountable to a single shirt and tie bureaucrat.  At first he had taken inventory of everything in the lab.  He was like a kid in a candy store as he sorted through all the open projects strewn about the immense facility, finally settling on a couple of interesting possibilities.  When he was first given the assignment of caretaker, he remembered being somewhat depressed but after seeing this sleeping giant he recognized all the possibilities for study.  The laboratory contained everything the Center had been working on, even the beginnings of the hush hush Probe project.

                Stored in a separate section of the lab was one of the original prototype Probes.  Eldon spent the first couple of months learning everything he could about the theory and operation of the wondrous machine.  As he grew to appreciate the power such a device could give someone, he studiously guarded the knowledge he gained, not even sharing with fellow employees at the local after work watering hole.  Eldon learned that the machine would require little work to ready it for service and as he finished his meal he wondered what it would be like to travel on missions through time.  The office com demanded his attention as he was leaving his make shift cafeteria.

                “Lab 21…. Eldon Monroe speaking…. may I help you?” Eldon got so few calls that he had to think about his communications spiel, causing his words to come out in short chunks. 

                “Yes, this is the Personal Secretary to the Center’s Directorate Manager.  Mr. Kenfer has advised me that it has become necessary to temporarily reactivate beta section in Lab 21.  Two technicians have been assigned to the task and you are to assist them in any way possible, is that clear Mr. Monroe?” She knew it was a gamble impersonating the Directorate Managers secretary but unlikely that a low level caretaker would know that the Directorate Manager of the Center had a personal secretary, let alone who it was and she had promised Loomis that she would get him the personnel he needed to fire up the prototype Probe for the risky mission at hand.

                Eldon was elated with the news.  He would get to see the Probe in action at last and to be a working technician on the project was just icing on the cake. “I’ll ready the section you need right away.  Can you tell me when the techs will arrive?  There is also the matter of security codes for the control consoles.  Who ever you send must have the codes before any power or computer connections can be made.” Eldon’s mind was racing.

                “The technicians will arrive in two days.  To expedite matters I am sending the security codes to your hand com via encoded cipher.  My records show that you have the com issued to you when you took the posting at the laboratory.  That com will have the required program to decipher the codes for your use.  I want you to have the power and control feeds connected to the Probe consoles by the time the techs arrive.  This will shave a day or two off the start up process once your help shows up.  We have a working line Probe in trouble out there and time is of the essence.” She was pouring it on pretty thick but she needed this Eldon fellow to hop to it.

                “No problem, I have all the original schematics left by the last operations crew to run the machine and I’m already familiar with both theory and operations material.  I don’t believe I caught your name and by the way it’s nice to feel needed.  This job has been a might lack luster so far for my taste.” Eldon was curious about the scenario behind the sudden turn of events.

                “The codes should be showing up on your hand com any second.  Remember that this material and the activation of beta section is classified until further notice.” She cut the connection before Eldon could ask again for her name and made sure that the com lines from the lab would forward to her location.  Just in case Mr. Monroe called back with any questions.

                Just as Eldon realized his caller had terminated the call his hand com beeped loudly.  The screen indicated that he had a message.  The message prefix warned that he would need to use the deciphering protocol his caller had indicated if he wanted to read what had been sent to him.  As he keyed in the download instructions to commence with the program, he walked along the crowded isle leading back to beta area of Lab 21.  Although the isle was barely passable here and there from piles of unused equipment, he could traverse it blindfolded and reached the beta section doorway in minutes.

                When a large project of this type is undertaken in a laboratory that houses other ongoing projects with staff, an internal secure area is often created to keep the curious from nosing around.  This is not because of security issues in general but because new technology of this type would attract everyone in the building and cause all the surrounding research to suffer from neglect.  Eldon now faced the large doors to just such an area.  His hand com finished digesting the codes sent to him and announced the fact with a loud buzz.  On the screen there were three codes.  The first was to open the doors into beta section.  The second was to unlock the communications console, the brains for operating the Probe and the third would be needed for routing power from the Center’s power grid using the labs utilities maintenance station.  The first worked without a hitch and Eldon pulled the heavy doors outwards.  Walking in was a real treat.  The sealed chamber had kept out the fine coat of dust that the rest of the laboratory endured.  Deeper inside he found the lights and flicked them on.  Grinning he saw, still resting on the desks where they were last used, the manuals he wished he could have read months ago.  His present level of training having been gleaned only from general computer files he had read and reread over and over again.  He found the control center next and it looked like it might have been shut down only moments ago, not the two years since the main project had moved over to the Center Complex.

                Eldon had climbed a single set of twelve stairs to get to the control center level.  Walking over to the railing he looked down.  In a large clear space that allowed for working access and for the time flux field to develop without touching any other objects in the bay, was a Probe.  Not as polished looking as the final model he was sure but every bit as functional.  Eldon could not look away.  He had his work cut out for himself and was determined to be ready in the two days given him…..         

   

                                 

Chapter 25

                As Loomis watched, smoke drifted up from the broken windows of the Center’s main high rise.  The waves of heat from the burning fires buffeted his flyer about and the engines wined from the strain of holding the flyer in a fixed position.  He had received notice to leave the building only minutes before the explosions and smiled realizing his choice of a subcontractor proved to be the right one.  This overt act may have been extreme but necessary if he was going to protect the source of the Probe debacle and disrupting the communications department would do for now.  Loomis only risked remaining in his present position long enough to finish recording the events of the last few minutes and as he checked to make sure his video recorders were operating his com demanded his attention.

                “Loomis here,” He said without emotion, “this is a private line and I don’t recognize your transmission code.”

                The voice that greeted him was instantly recognizable from previous conversations and caused a chill to run the length of Loomis’ spine. 

                “You remember me don’t you Mr. Loomis.  I talked with you only a few days ago.  Our benefactor appreciates your attempt to derail efforts to uncover who is really behind the missing Probe.  Unfortunately my information suggests that the damage suffered today was not serious enough to guarantee our goal.  The technician assigned to ferret out any and all information leading to the Probes loss, already had most of the Center’s priority mission communication records downloaded to personal non-network comps for analysis.” She continued in a soft but serious manor. “When the main information storage was disrupted by your attack, the cork was already out of the bottle.”

                Loomis hesitated before speaking. “You might not know everything that’s going on.  I’ve contracted with someone who has worked for me in the past to deal with the technician you speak of and any friends that he may have recruited to help him.  I happen to know the information analysis has not yet been completed and there is still a chance I can stop any results from being distributed.”

                Loomis’ mystery woman had more news. “There is one more complication that no one expected.  The probe has signaled that it has regained mission readiness and is waiting for orders from the Directorate Manager by way of his personal aid.  This information was costly and we must act swiftly to deal with this new threat.” All pretense had fallen from her voice.

                Loomis was stunned, this could not be happening.  His actions were supposed to have been a no brainer.  The Probe was simply going to disappear without a trace, or so he was told.  How could he possibly fend off the return of the Probe now?  It does after all, operate outside the normal time line and can be inaccessible for as long as it chooses.  If so ordered, it will simply arrive at the receiving facility inside the Center where it cannot be touched until it is debriefed.  The protection or destruction of the directive codes he had sent covertly would be a mute point if the actual Probe itself became available to investigators.                          

                “A thought occurs to me,” Loomis said softly as if unsure of himself. “I have access to one of the only two miniature prototypes built to test the time travel technology.  It is stored off the main company campus in a seldom used laboratory complex.  All of the facilities equipment still remains in tact.  The theory, back when research was being slowly moved to the main Center complex for convenience, was to leave everything in place to use as a backup facility for overflow project work.  This could work in our favor.  I would need a couple of bodies to act as op techs but it is possible that our problem Probe might be intercepted and dealt with once and for all.”

                There was silence on the other end of the line and Loomis thought he would have to ask if his friend was still a party to the conversation, when she again spoke. “That is an interesting proposition.  Do you really think you could find and neutralize our problem child?”

                “You advised that the Probe has initiated a dialog requesting orders.  In so doing the Probe must have provided its coordinates in space and time to the Center communications reception center.  A validation process is automatically done by the reception center to confirm that the communication received is genuine.  The record of that initial communication, with these coordinates, can be obtained easily by anyone with my security clearance.  What we need to do is deliver a communication to the Probe using those same coordinates, that it will think is the answer to its request for orders.  Our message must be received before the real message from the Directorate Manager is sent.  In our fake message we can advise the Probe that it must meet with an intermediary at a time and place of our choosing, claiming it is necessary before it comes in for debriefing.”

                “Do you think you have the time to accomplish sending the message and getting the prototype machine ready before the Centers people can communicate with the Probe?” The woman sounded hopeful.

                “I can get the message out quickly enough.  I won’t have the hurdles posed by the Elders Commission and Center protocol to deal with and I can have a program in place that will allow the real message to be entered but not really sent to the Probe without a password from me.” Loomis was starting to believe his plan might actually work.

                “I will get you the people you need to man the equipment at the lab but the message is your baby.  I’ll pass your plan on and pray that you are successful.  When do you think you will be ready to make the trip?

                Loomis knew he now had control of the situation and his female partner in crime would have to wait for him to contact her. “You can expect our falsified message to go out by this evening but the interception mission will depend on how good your people are and in what actual condition we find the lab and the Proto-Probe.  Oh and by the way I’ll need an explosives expert to come with me on the mission.  All Probes have hull sensors that record any damage.  They automatically eject an emergency buoy when damaged beyond repair or are destroyed.  We want the information buoy to indicate that it exploded.  An unexplained explosion is more readily believed than any other form of attack.” Loomis ended the call with directions to the laboratory and its entry security codes.  He followed up with a scan of the Center’s activity logs to see if anyone from the science department had accessed the lab recently.  No one had passed through its doors for several months.

                Repair drones began swarming around the damaged Center spire as Loomis’s flyer gained altitude to depart the area unnoticed.  Sitting back in his seat he viewed the video he had just made while his flyer headed for his home and secure office.  He could orchestrate the message transfer to the Probe from there without anyone being the wiser.  Only one more thing was needed, the new Probe coordinates currently in the Center data base.  He needed to remove them secretly and replace them with fakes.  He thought a moment and keyed in Dorey’s com code.

                Dorey was in a meeting with the Director of Government Services when her com began to vibrate.  Looking at its screen she recognized Loomis’ personal code and excused herself as if she needed to use the restroom.  She punched the receive button at the same time the office door clicked shut.

                “Hello Mr. Loomis what can I do for you today?” She knew he wouldn’t call if it wasn’t important.

                “I’ve got to have some information that just came into the communications center.  I need locator coordinates that accompany every Probe communication during a mission.  The coordinates are from the missing Probe that has just reestablished active communications with the Center.  When retrieved they must be replaced with believable fakes.  Time is critical and risk warrants a bonus as soon as they are in my hands.  I’m sending a secure com code where they can be forwarded.” Loomis could almost hear the wheels turning in Dorey’s mind.

                “Ok, I’ll get a hold of my inside agent at the Center and should have the information you need before the day is out.” Dorey ended the call with pleasantries and placed a new call to Bella West.  She had never failed yet and she would offer to split the bonus if she hurried…….            

Chapter 24

                When Lock arrived back aboard the Probe at the Nexus point, he was still smiling.  Seeing himself as a boy all those years ago was an experience he would treasure forever.  He silently wondered if his comic collection stored at home would now contain the only comic he ever regretted leaving behind.  Feeling ravenously hungry, he made his way through the probes interior barrier system to the kitchen and noted to himself that he would be sure to look for the comic the next time he visited his home.  As Lock assembled the makings of an awesome sandwich his thoughts were intruded upon.

I trust that your personal experience in the past has galvanized your faith in the power of our partnership and the reliability of this proven time technology.  Unfortunately we cannot afford to dally here for long.  My systems have been out of direct communication with our base of operations and now our renewed stability has been established.   As a direct result I have been constantly monitoring information originating from the Center and only hours ago it was attacked by unknown enemies.  Gleaned from continuing emergency communications it appears that no key personnel have been injured or killed and although damage has been done to the complex of buildings, no permanent harm occurred.  Operations control will be shunted around the physical destruction until repairs have been made and we have a sympathetic spokes person in the form of the personal assistant to the Director of Operations.  I have sent the first message since my program mandated isolation, to this spokesman.  While we wait for an answer to my query it is time you are informed of the last bit of information I posses regarding what has led us to this point. 

I have always been vague when referring to your predecessor and my previous Director.  I have never allowed you to know what transpired, leading to his demise.  It was not necessary while first deciding if you would be compatible as my new Director, nor again later during your training regime.  Now that our bond is complete you need to know everything.  My previous Director, Davis Keller, was the nephew of the Center’s founder and financier, Jordan Keller.  The Keller family line has been involved in this project since Jordan’s brother and Davis’ father, Sanford Keller, first stumbled on the root principles of the time technology.  The mission Davis and I were on when he died was conceived by his Uncle Jordan.  It seems that a viable ripple in time was detected and upon investigation was going to change the ownership of the Center and threaten the very existence of the Probe project with its directives as we now know it.  Jordan Keller suspected that one of the only two privately owned time probes in existence was used to go back in time and change the outcome of a financial transaction that will alter our present time line and bring the ownership of the Center into hostile hands.

Davis was killed while performing a maintenance procedure outside of my perimeter.  As you already know, during a transit through time my physical shell, what I refer to and you know as my perimeter, moves through a medium that has been called flux.  This flux will not support life and is merely the glue, for the lack of a better term, between one moment of time and the next.  One of my sensors designed to sense the rate of time passing needed to be replaced and Davis was the only one available for the task.  The job had to be done while in the shift mode, forcing Davis into the flux in order to replace and calibrate the sensor.  Otherwise we could have stopped in real time and no risk would have been necessary for the outside repair.  While allowing my automation program full control of the fairly simple procedure, I have discovered that an OIA code was received by my system control comp.  The Operational Immediate Action code is an order to comply without verification or prior authorization.  This code can only be sent by someone with a special prefix identifier.  This identifier is only available for use by a high level ops technician ordered to send any immediately actionable instructions with no questions asked.  The OIA order received was to disconnect any exterior hardware immediately and phase back into regular time to avert imminent damage from an oncoming time wave.  This in itself is not an uncommon occurrence and nothing to throw up an alarm. What I found out after  Davis’ repair sphere was disconnected, ultimately causing his death, was that the sensor malfunction was false caused by intentional programming so Davis would have no other choice but enter the flux for the repair.  Whoever programmed the sensor malfunction knew exactly when Davis would be vulnerable and it was then the OIA code was sent.

                “This prefix identifier you mentioned, can you trace who has the authority to utilize this power?”  Lock knew there was going to be a confrontation soon. “You’re suggesting that Davis was murdered and that you were meant to be lost in time.  A chicken without a head as the old expression goes.”

As I have come to expect, your grasp of the true meaning of this situation is right on target. The Directors function is vital to a Probes operation.  The combination of Artificial Intelligence and live input of moral, ethical and cognitive decision making is critical.  The party who was behind the OIA instruction transmission fully intended to cause a mission shutdown, preventing the information gathering objective and knowing a loss like this could prevent the true motives from ever coming to light.  When our mission readiness is acknowledged by control, we will again resume active operations.  We may have to return with Davis’ body but might also be directed to continue our original mission considering the gravity of what has happened and time literally may be of the essence.

                “How long will Central consider our situation?  This spokesperson, who is he?  Is he trustworthy?” Lock was anxious to clean this mess up and get on with normal operations.  He wanted his own mission and didn’t like the roll of cleanup hitter.

Incorruptible, Lee Melman has been with the Probe project from its conception.  His integrity and powers of persuasion have been the deciding factor keeping the program on track for years.  Melman has suffered the pressures of three previous Directorate Managers and now serves a fourth. 

                “If Melman is our life line, will he be the one to pass our concerns and the facts of Davis’ loss on to his Uncle Jordan?” Lock felt they were in for some old fashioned revenge and possibly quite a storm.

Melman will report to his boss, the newest Directorate Manager Andrew Kenfer, Kenfer will reluctantly but certainly report to Jordan Keller and the Center’s Commission of Elders.  At that point Jordan Keller will unleash his dogs.  He will take charge of the situation with gusto.  Our orders will be arriving soon so be prepared to begin in all earnest. 

                Although excited to begin, Lock couldn’t help but dread the coming communication…..             

             

Chapter 23

                Kenfer, now totally drained, watched as the Elders filed out of the conference room.  He knew and dreaded that he only had a few hours to make good on the promise to enlighten them further.  On automatic pilot he found and entered the employee lift, selecting the executive level without looking at the control panel.  He longed for the comfort of his apartment and the hot shower that was awaiting him.  The motors outside the lift car hummed quietly as it surged upward with Kenfer staring numbly at the inside of the sliding doors.  Hearing an odd thunderous type noise from above Kenfer looked up and what he would later learn was an explosion, caused the lift to accelerate upward suddenly and then fall a few yards before it stopped with a grinding wail.  Kenfer was sure that after the feeling of brief weightlessness from the short fall, his stomach was now in his throat.  Having crumpled to the floor after the abrupt stop, he found himself looking up at the ceiling panels again as sharp pain in his left arm told him he was still very much alive.

                Melman was in the Center’s employee lounge eating a late lunch, when the floor heaved and shook toppling many of the room’s tables and chairs.  Glass from the windows showered in on him.  Melman, now on the floor in shock, pushed his table off himself and rolled over onto his elbows.  The lights were out but emergency lighting provided just enough light for him to see that damage was heavy and light smoke filled the room.  Speakers in the ceiling were spewing instructions to move without panic to stairwells at either end of the hall outside.  Keep low to the floor the automatic message said, do not breathe in any smoke if possible.  Melman reached for his personal com by instinct and keyed in Kenfer’s code number.  He suspected that this attack had something to do with the investigation into the errant Probe and hoped Kenfer had not been its target.

                Kenfer was lying on his side, cradling his arm when his com chirped for his attention. “Kenfer here,” he said, while trying to read the callers name on the com’s display.  The dim emergency lighting of the lift car was working but barely bright enough to see anything.

                “Sir, this is Melman.  There has been an explosion somewhere in the building, are you ok?  I’m currently stuck inside the lounge, lying on the floor and rolling around in my lunch.”  Without realizing it his voice had climbed a couple of octaves.

                “I’m alive but injured.  I was on the way up to the apartment attached to my office for some R&R when the lift tossed me around quite handily.  It seems to be stuck at an odd angle in shaft number six and I think I might have a broken arm.” Kenfer spoke remarkably matter of fact.

                “I can hear emergency personnel yelling for survivors close to the lounge entrance out in the hall.  They should have the doors open momentarily.  I don’t seem to have injured anything but my pride.  I suggest that you end this call and contact security, letting them know your situation and the lift number you’re in.  They have a priority emergency management plan which includes the locating and rescuing of all senior management officials ASAP.  That should get them humping your way.  Make sure they know about your arm so they will have medical with them.  I’m going to try to reach Benson, that explosion seemed awfully close to the Communications Department.” Melman was gathering his wits about him and moving toward the outer doors when Kenfer ended the call.

                Benson had just received storage crystals from Karl and Dean.  A currier delivered them to him with a note, and was waiting for him to read it.

                <YOUR FILTER PROGRAM HAS RUN ITS COURSE USING THE INFORMATION YOU GAVE US.  AS YOU INSTRUCTED WE KEPT OUR RESULTS SEPARATE AND SAVED THE INFORMATION ON THE CRYSTALS NOW IN YOUR POSSESION.  WE DIDN’T FEEL COMFORTABLE USING THE CENTER’S INTERNAL NETWORK TO BRING YOU UP TO DATE, NOR DID WE WANT OTHERS TO SEE US TOGETHER JUST YET.  WE ARE WATCHING OUR BACKS AS WELL AS COVERING OUR TRAIL ON THIS ONE AND WE SUGGEST YOU GIVE SERIOUS THOUGHT TO OUR DISCUSSIONS EARLIER FOR YOUR SAFTEY TOO.  THE CURRIER WE HAVE JUST SENT THINKS SHE JUST GAVE YOU GREAT NEWS ABOUT YOUR FAMILY SO SMILE, ACT CHEERFUL AND TIP HER GENEROUSLY. RESPECTFULLY, KARL & DEAN>

                “This is wonderful news.”  Benson lied and reached into his pocket for the curriers tip.  As the currier left his office and the door shut behind him all hell let loose.  Luckily he was not out on the main communications floor in his own cubicle when the explosion erupted but the force of the blast collapsed the adjoining wall to his office pushing him to the far side still in his chair with desk and all wrapped around him.  Debris from the collapsed wall and the falling ceiling now covered him and a thin powder of white dust and smoke filled the air causing him to cough violently.  After catching his breath by holding a handkerchief he always had in his back pocket over his face, he forced himself to calm down and take inventory, realizing he must protect the information crystals just given him.  Benson’s com suddenly demanded attention.

                “Benson here,” he said still coughing a little, “I hope this is important, I have to report an explosion.”

                “Benson! You’re not dead, I was sure that this attack was centered in or near communications.” Melman was relieved to hear his friend’s voice. “Several of the upper floors seem to have taken damage but I’m ok and I just talked to Kenfer.  He sustained injury but rescue will have him safe soon and I think it’s time we all meet in a safe place to compare notes.”

                “The bomb went off right after I received the raw Probe information via currier that I had running thorough my filter program on non network personal comps.  The next step in the process will boil it down to the code needed to access the Center’s archives.  That’s when we’ll get the answers we want.  I’m doing this myself, we can’t trust or risk anyone else at this juncture.” Benson was already feeling better as he brushed himself off creating a cloud of dust.

                “Ok, get whatever you need, even if you have to use the executive supply room.” Melman said with authority in his voice. “I’ll check in with Kenfer to see if he’s been extricated from the lift yet and find out the extent of his injuries.  I want him to preside over our meeting.  Are the friends you used as helpers safe?  I’m guessing the extra program help you needed involved them.”

                Benson was not surprised that Melman had figured out how he was able to get such fast results using his new software program and still stay under the Center’s radar. “Their office is only on the third floor and the damage appears to have been directed at the communications department on the eleventh floor but I will check in with them after this call.”  The note and the currier Benson realized, had been a waste of effort.  The person or persons responsible were playing hard ball now and Melman’s meeting of the minds was just what they all needed to solidify the next step in their plan.

                Benson contacted both Karl and Dean and as he thought, found them safe.  The Center building was under lock down by safety and security teams but he advised them that they would be coming with him to a meeting and to await his call.

                High over the Center complex, Loomis watched the chaos ensue throuh the tinted windows of his personal flyer……